Improved projectile for ordnance



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JOHN B. BEAD, OF TUSCYALOOSA, ALABAMA.

IMPROVED PROJECTILE FOR ORDNANCE.

Specification forming part of Leiters Patent No. 15,999, dated October28, lz'l.

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, JOHN B. READ, of the town and county of Tuscaloosa,and State of Alabama, have invented a new and Improved Mode ofConstructing Projectiles for Cannon; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

The nature of my invention consists in;the attachment to the butt ofelongated cannon shot or shells of a cupped cylinder of wroughtironfastened to the body of the shot or shell by having its perforatedbottom embedded in the cast-iron or other metal of which the shot may becomposed, while its sides proj ectbeyond and are so thinned down as tobe capable of such expansion by the charge of the gun on firing as tofit its bore exactly, thus saving winda-ge in'all cases and impartingrotary motion to projectiles when rifle-grooves or their equivalents areemployed, thus securing, by

.the striking of the projectile upon its apex,

the important advantage of using percussionshells.

To enable others skilledin the manufacture of military projectiles tomake use of my invention, I will proceed to describe its constructionand mode of operation.

Shot or shells embracing my improvements may be constructed in any ofthe patterns for elongated projectiles now known; but the shellrepresented in my drawings is of the cylindro-conoidal form, preferred,for obvious reasons, by the majority of military nien. With theexception of its ange and of the peculiarities which I have added, it isidentical as to its exterior,its re-eniorcements,and internal cavity orpowder-space with the shell represented in Sir Howard Douglas-swellknown workV on naval gunnery.

Ain Figure l represents the body of the shell or shot entire'; B, thecupped cylinder of wrought-iron; C, the fuse-plug; D, one ot' the holesfor passing a cord or wire to serve as a sling. Fig. 2 is a sectionalview of the same. A B C D indicate similar parts, as in Fig. l. Erepresents an ordinary percussion fuse-tube. The cupped cylinder B, Fig.2, must have its bottom turned in, as represented at H H, at a .rightangle, or one varying but a few degrees to either side of aperpendicular to its sides,

with a large central opening or perforation and other smaller onessurrounding it, roundl vor irregular, as many as may bethought`neccylinder as much as represented in the drawings, if thoughtbest, but only so far as may be necessary to form the necessary rivets,and the butt of the shell may be left flat or concave; but the convexform represented is believed to be best, as presenting the greatestresistance to the shock of thev charge of the gun. Just below H H may beseen the slope or bevelby which the sides of the wrought-iron cylinderare reduced to the proper thinness for the necessary expansion.

Fig. 3 is a representation of the bottom of the shell, with the convexportion of cast metal, A, forming the butt of the shell orshot, thickestin the center, and so thinned at the circumference as to show the formsof some of the apertures by which the wrought and cast metal are made toadhere.

Fig. 4L represents the bottom of the shell, with the convex portion ofcast metal removed, so as to show more distinctly how the cuppedcylinder is formed and attached. The bottom of thewrought-iron cuppedcylinderis shown as formed from a cylinder having its sides turned in atone end at or near a right angle, wedge-'shaped portions being cut fromit at four points to facilitate turning in and flattening, the ends tobeleft sufficiently far apart to form a large central opening, and asmany holes formed surrounding it as thought at all necessary.

The free sides of the cylinder may be made originally of the propertensity by rolling or hammering; or they may be reamed out after thecylinder is formed and attached to the shell, or it may be found that auniform thickness of metal may answer every purpose; or the cuppedcylindermaybc formed from disks of wrought metal by the use of male andfe male dies under astamping-press, which could be so arranged as to cutthe disks and punch the necessary apertures all at one operation.

. The cupped cylinder, by whatever mode it may be formed, is to beplaced in the bottom of the mold formed by the pattern for the' shell,and the projectile completed by pouring the necessary amount of castmetal.

It is evident that the Wrought-iron cylinder might be attached to thebody of the shot in several different Ways, as by leaving thelargecentral aperture round andl cutting init a female screw to take hold ofaproj ection from the bottom of the shell; or the bottom ofthe cuppedcylinder might be omitted entirely and the sides giearest the butt becut with a female screw large enough to receive the lbutt of the shot;or the cupped cylinder may be made Without apertures, but with rough andprot jecting points, as YWhere the mouth of a filled sack is tied, andthese might be embedded in the cast metal; or the cylinder may befastened on by screws or rivets to the body of the shell Without beingunited with it in founding; or the cylinder may embrace the sides of theshell more or less or envelop it at its apex, being fastened on Withcast or Wrought rivets or screws or by brazing; but none of thesemethods can compare with the economical, solid, and easy mode of unionwhich I have indicated, and they are only mentioned to prevent futureclaims for improvements.

rlhe mode of manufacture being sufficiently evident from the abovedetails, I will proceed to 'describe the mannerin Which my improvedprojectiles are to be used.

After the shell has been charged, the percussion-tube capped andproperly placed, and the fuse-plug inserted,` the cartridge of the gunis placed in its muzzle, with the tied end fit-ted into the cuppedcylinder of the shot,

made with easy Windage, when the loading may be completed with onemotion, the ram? mer having its head made slightly concave. On firingthe charge of the gun the cylinder immediately expands and fills therifle-grooves when they are employed, thus imparting rotary motionv andsecuring the striking of the shell on its apex, and thus, by explodingthe cap, securing the bursting of the shell immediately on impact, orsoon-afterward, if the tube be lled with a short-time fuse or mixture.Solid shot may be fired and rotated in the same Way, and, besides theadvantage as to economy over any leaded shot, they possess the valuableadvantage of being red red hot.

The expanding butt is not claimed, of course,

as my invention, nor is the placing of a pe1 cussion tube and cap in theapex of a shell.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The attachment to elongated shot or shells of a cylinder of Wrought-ironfastened to the body of thc shot or shell by having its bottoml or sidesmore or less embedded in the cast metal of which the shot may becomposed, the cylinder to be attached to the butt of the shot or shell,and its sides to project beyond, being thinned down after a short bevelto such a degree as exactly to fit the bore of the gun when the chargeis fired, so as to save windagc in all cases and impart rotation whenriflegrooves are employed. l

JOHN B. READ.

W'itnesses. v

B. K. MoRsELL,

NVM. W. TUCKER.

